


I Like Me Better

by dearzoemurphy



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: AU, Bar, Broadway, Drinking, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, New York, Post canon, Songfic, Truth or Dare, Vacation, alcohol tw, date, getting drunk, two precious babes finally catch a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 20:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15692475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: To be young and in love in New York CityTo not know who I am but still know that I'm good long as you're here with meTo be drunk and in love in New York CityMidnight into morning coffeeBurning through the hours talkingDamn, I like me better when I'm with youZoe and Evan go to New York for a whirlwind getaway, but of course, they can't have a simple, uneventful vacation.





	I Like Me Better

**Author's Note:**

> told you I can't stay away from them for long

_ to be young and in love in New York City _

  
“Oh my god, I can't believe we’re finally here!” Zoe squealed, spinning around in the entrance of the place her and her boyfriend would be staying for the next week. She looked up to the large domed skylight in the foyer, turned to the large pots of succulents were displayed on marble tables on either side, and ran around the corner to a lavishly furnished living room.

Evan grinned at her enthusiasm, doing his best to keep up with her. “Do you like it?” he asked somewhat nervously.

His girlfriend turned around and dropped her suitcase on the ground. “Like it? I love it, babe,” she said, moving towards Evan and hopping up to kiss him on the cheek.

“You know, this is just the beginning of the surprises,” he said, an uncommon mischievous tone to his voice.

A small gasp escaped from Zoe’s lips. “No, no no no, just coming here and getting the place was enough, I'm handling the rest of the trip, remember?” she said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

“Well…I know that's what my mom originally said she was covering, but, uh…” Evan started, opening the front pocket of his bag and fishing around in it for something.

“Evan Hansen, I love you and your mother so, so, so much, but we agreed you two could handle airfare and the Airbnb, that's it,” Zoe grumbled indignantly. However, her grumbling stopped when her boyfriend proudly produced the items he’d been looking for.

“No. You…you didn't…” she stammered, in shock.

“We…we did,” Evan said, barely containing his excitement at Zoe’s happiness.

Zoe lept forward, shoving her boyfriend’s outstretched arms aside to wrap her own around him, enthusiastically crashing her lips against his.

“Hamilton tickets?! I can't believe…how did you even get them?!” she asked incredulously, still hanging onto Evan.

He smiled devilishly. “Well you see, my mom knows someone who knows someone who works for the Richard Rogers box office and that someone owed the first someone a favor and the first someone owed my mom a favor, so- I guess to cut a long story short, my mom called in a favor with a person who was able to call in a favor and it may have been a liiiittle bit illegal, but were not supposed to worry about that because we're seeing Hamilton!” Evan rushed out.

“Oh my god, I can't believe my boyfriend committed a crime for me to get Hamilton tickets,” Zoe said incredulously, letting him go as she was laughing too hard.

“Well…I'm technically not the one who committed the crime, I just didn't say no, because my mom told me not to question her methods,” he said, moving a hand to nervously scratch the back of his neck, his cheeks burning slightly.

Zoe bit her lip slightly. “Is it wrong that I still find the idea kinda hot?” she said in a low voice, moving back towards her boyfriend.

Evan’s face was now completely beet red. “Uh, I mean, I guess…I uh, wouldn't actually commit a serious crime, I mean-” he stuttered, embarrassed.

His girlfriend couldn't help but let out a hysterical laugh before taking his face in her hands and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “I love you, babe, and I'm so sorry I said that,” she said quietly, smiling as she pressed her forehead against Evan’s and looped her arms around his neck.

The blonde boy kissed her back, moving his arms around her waist. “I didn't know you liked bad boys,” he replied in an equally quiet voice, trying not to crack up.

Zoe snickered. “Oh my god, no, my idea of living on the edge is eating half a pint of ice cream by myself on a weeknight, I couldn't handle a real bad boy,” she said humorously.

“You're so amazing, you could handle anything or anyone,” Evan murrmered, craning down slightly to rest his head on Zoe’s shoulder.

She laughed, the pair beginning to sway side-to-side slightly. “I'm so glad you are the way you are, just the sweetest, cutest, loveliest person I know, and I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have you,” she gushed, moving a hand to stroke his hair.

Evan smiled sweetly. “I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have you,” he said, then straightened up, “I know the tickets were supposed to be my last surprise, but…”

“No! You didn't do anything else, look me in the eye and say-” Zoe started, letting go of Evan in surprise.

He chuckled. “Relax, it's just reservations for dinner tonight before we go see Hamilton,” he said.

Zoe let out a small sigh of relief. “Good. And I'm paying for it,” she said firmly.

Evan shrugged. “Alright, we just need to be ready in about an hour to leave,” he said casually.

“Ugh, that's a shame,” Zoe said wistfully.

“Why?” Evan asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“I really, reeeeally wanted to make out with you on the upper level terrace with the view,” she whined.

“Well…I mean, we have an hour just to change…I could, uh, change in about thirty minutes…” Evan said, trying to stifle the blush beginning to creep over his cheeks.

Zoe smirked. “You're not wrong. Let's go check out the view,” she said, grabbing her suitcase and beckoning for Evan to follow her up the stairs.

  
_ to not know who I am but still know that I'm good long as you're here with me _

  
The show left Evan and Zoe in tears. From the moment Satisfied begun to Eliza’s gasp at the end of the show, their eyes were hardly dry.

Afterwards, they decided to rethink their entire lives at the bar in the hotel next to the Richard Rogers; the appropriately named Broadway Lounge. They got several strange looks as they stumbled through the rotating doors, still trying to calm themselves down and stop the tears streaming down their faces.

“What was your favorite part?” Zoe asked once they were seated at the bar, drinks in hand.

Evan thoughtfully took a sip of his drink. “Um…all of Eliza’s songs. Alexander didn't deserve her,” he said, clenching a fist.

Zoe giggled. “You're not wrong. She was way too good for him,” she mused, swirling her glass.

“Just like you're too good for me,” her boyfriend murmured.

The caramel haired girl gasped. “Babe, no! You know that's not true,” she said, placing a hand on his arm.

Evan chuckled. “Do I? Do I know that?”

Zoe leaned in and planted a kiss on his forehead. “You may not know it, but it's true. We're not Alex and Eliza. We're…Burr and Theodosia,” she offered.

“So you're the wife of a British soldier I knocked up while your husband was away?” Evan asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, then blushing at his own words.

His girlfriend blushed as well. “Oh, well…I guess maybe we shouldn't compare our relationship to our founding fathers’,” she conceded, picking up her drink.

Evan laughed. “I love that we took away that lesson from the greatest theatrical masterpiece of our time,” he said sarcastically.

Zoe laughed with him. “Not necessarily a bad lesson,” she agreed.

After a moment, the blonde cleared his throat. “So…um, what do you want to do tomorrow?” he asked.

“Hmm…maybe we could tour the Statue of Liberty?” Zoe responded.

“Well, I think we had to get tickets in advance…” Evan thought out loud.

She smirked. “Trick question. I booked the tour right after we got the plane tickets and room,” she said proudly, happy to finally be repaying Evan’s surprises.

He gaped in return. “So it begins, I'm not sure if I'm prepared for the rest of this trip,” Evan joked.

“You had your surprise, now I have mine. My surprises, plural, I guess,” Zoe pouted.

Evan grinned. “I am ready, I am ready! I think. Maybe. But, uh, whatever happens on the trip, I still love you more than anything in the whole entire world. I actually don't know where I'd be right now without you,” he replied.

Zoe grinned back and planted a kiss on his nose. “I love you too, honey. More than anything in the whole entire galaxy,” she said triumphantly.

“So I'll never be able to truly one-up you, huh?” her boyfriend asked, sighing defeatedly.

Zoe giggled. “Nope. Hey, mind if we get another round of drinks and then go home?” she asked, looking into her empty martini glass.

“Of course! We can just Uber back,” Evan replied.

“Perfect!” Zoe said, flagging down a bartender.

_  
to be drunk and in love in New York City _

  
When Zoe asked if they could get another round, she was lying to herself by implying it was the last one the pair was going to have. Usually, they never let themselves get as out of control as they were that night. They didn't know how many drinks in they were when Stayin’ Alive came on and Zoe stood up on her barstool, almost falling off as she attempted to dance along, Evan cheering her on. After a while, their bartender simply brought them the check without asking, unceremoniously throwing them out.

“Why are you getting us to…to *hic* leave?” Zoe asked, upset.

“You're getting close to disrupting the peace, I'm just trying to help you out. Go home, get some sleep,” the bartender responded, tired.

“I don't think we're gonna be sleeping much tonight,” Zoe said suggestively, smiling lazily.

Evan was ignoring everything happening around him as he stared down at the check in front of him. “Hey Zo…um, what…what's my name?” he asked.

She turned to him confused. “Evan. Evan Harrison. I mean, Hemingway. I mean, Handkerchief. I mean, Hansen,” she stumbled out, causing the bar staff member to shake his head as Evan struggled to sign the bottom of the receipt, still misspelling his name after thinking carefully about each and every letter.

The bartender quickly took the tray holding their recipes and card to scan it as fast as he could and get the couple out of the establishment.

“Evan, Evan, Evan, honey. Baby. I have an important question,” Zoe said with slurred speech, snapping in his face.

Evan shook his head to regain his senses. “What? What is it?” he asked.

“Why did Alex cheat on Eliza? Like…she and Angelica literally offered him a threesome and he turned it down in favor of some random whore? I just don't understand,” Zoe mused.

“That's not a very nice thing to say about Maria,” the blonde whined, frowning.

“Okay, yes, I actually love her but…why, Evan? Why? Eliza is so fucking perfect, and Alex is so-” she started.

“Here's your card back, have a good rest of your evening. And get home safe, do you need us to call you a cab?” the bartender said, reappearing and sliding the receipt tray to them across the counter.

“Nah, we got…we got Uber. We're good,” Zoe said, waving her hand and hopping off of her stool, almost face planting in the process.

Evan absentmindedly reached out an arm to catch her as he tried to book a car with his trembling hand. “Okay. Okay. We've got one, his name is Evan too and he’ll be here in three minutes,” he said, sliding off of his own stool and linking his arm in Zoe’s in an attempt to keep her standing upright.

“Okay, okay, let's go down to…the curb. The curb, yeah, that's what it's called,” Zoe mumbled.

After an awkward elevator ride where an elderly woman tried to berate the couple for being drunk and Zoe simply responded by flipping her off and laughing, they were standing in front of the hotel on the side facing away from the Richard Rogers.

The caramel haired girl looked to their right and squinted as she practically fell down onto the sidewalk. “Hey…Ev, look over there,” she said, tugging on his pant leg.

“What is it, sweetie pie?” he drawled.

“Look,” Zoe said simply, pointing towards the Music Box theatre next to them.

Evan joined her in squinting, confused. “Dear…Evan Hansen? That's…that's my name,” he said incredulously.

“Huh. I've never heard of that show. Wonder what it's about,” Zoe mused.

Their Uber driver pulled up to the corner and called Evan, letting him know he was there right as Zoe threw his car’s back door open and leaped inside without asking any questions.

“Hey…are you guys the Hansens?” the driver asked.

Zoe hiccuped. “Hansens? Plural? God, that would be nice,” she muttered.

Evan blushed. “Yes. And hi Evan, I'm Evan,” he said, pulling himself into the back seat next to his drunk girlfriend.

The driver Evan smiled. “Hello, Evan. And she is?” he asked, merging back into traffic and getting on his way to their Airbnb.

“Zoe. And…we're not married. Yet,” the blonde defined sheepishly.

Zoe gasped. “Aww, Ev, you're gonna marry me? Not…not you Evan, him Evan,” she asked, shocked, then making sure both men knew who she was talking to.

The driver chuckled. “I figured.”

“Of course I'm planning on it! I don't know when, but-”

The caramel haired girl pulled Evan over by the collar of his jacket and slowly pressed her lips against his, slowly and seductively moving her hands to roam through his hair.

“Hey, guys…I appreciate young love as much as the next dude, but could you not do that in my car?” the driver piped up.

‘Oh! Uh, yes, of course, so sorry,” Evan stuttered, embarrassed as he pulled himself of of his girlfriend.

Zoe pouted. “That sounds like something someone with small dick energy would say. My Evan’s better. He has big dick energy. And just a big dick,” she grumbled.

Evan turned bright red, causing the driver to chuckle. “I still don't really get the whole ‘big dick energy’ thing, but that's cute. How many drinks in are you guys?” he asked.

“Um…well, let's see…one, two, five…like seven. Or three. Or five,” Zoe said, confusingly counting on her fingers.

The driver only nodded thoughtfully as Evan couldn't stop blushing, no matter how hard he tried.

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent until they reached the place the couple was staying.

“Thanks,” Zoe said simply, pushing out of her side of the car and running to their front door.

Evan mumbled his own thanks and was about to leave when the driver stopped him. “Wait, just a second,” he called out.

“Okay…” the other Evan replied.

Driver-Evan turned around. “Make sure you show your girl some of that big dick energy tonight, okay?” he said.

The blonde boy turned redder than he'd previously thought possible. “Oh…ohkay. That's…yeah, I can um, do that,” he promised uncomfortably.

The driver only nodded and turned back around, signaling to Evan that he needed to get out of the car and over to Zoe.

“Hey, Ev! You need to unlock the door, my key didn't work,” she yelled.

Evan sprinted over and peered into the lock as he pulled out his own key ring. “Zoe…honey…you crammed a leaf from that bush over there into the keyhole,” he said, defeated.

Zoe knelt down and looked inside. “Huh…I guess I did.”

  
_ midnight into morning coffee, burning through the hours talking _

  
“Sooooo, are you even tired?” Zoe asked once the pair was nestled into their king sized bed, still feeling extremely tipsy, but somehow in proper pajamas.

“A little bit. I don't think I'm up for anything tonight-” Evan began.

“Oh no! I wasn't going to suggest that, no, I think I'd be too drunk to know what I’m doing, but I thought maybe we could have like, a middle school sleepover. Y’know, Never Have I Ever, Truth or Dare…” she elaborated.

“Sure,” Evan turned on his side towards her and shrugged, “at least until I fall asleep.”

“Yay! First we should do Truth or Dare, but without the dares, because I feel lazy,” Zoe suggested.

“So…just asking each other questions back and forth,” her boyfriend said, laughing.

“Yeah! Yeah, exactly. Should I start?” she asked.

“Sure,” Evan affirmed, shifting closer to his girlfriend.

“Okay. So, um…who and when was your first kiss?” Zoe started.

“Officially, I guess this girl in kindergarten who proposed to me, and our friends threw us a recess wedding. We barely pecked each other on the lips,” he answered.

Zoe’s jaw dropped. “So…you mean to tell me that you're married and cheating on your wife to be with me, babe? That's so romantic,” she said, cracking a smile.

Evan laughed. “Glad to know you see it that way. Um, who was your first?”

“You'll never believe me, but…you, actually,” she answered, giggling.

“Wait, really?!” her boyfriend exclaimed incredulously.

Zoe continued giggling. “Yeah. Before that, I only came close once, but I was actually super nervous about everything involved with dating and romance and shit,” she explained.

“Okay, well, then who was the one you came close with?” Evan asked, wanting to hear some kind of interesting story.

“Oh, just this guy, Bryson Parker? He was my first boyfriend. He's a piece of shit,” she responded, face contorting.

“When was it though? And why didn't you kiss him?” her boyfriend prompted, curious.

“Well, so…we were on like, our third date, right? And we were both terribly indecisive, so we took turns deciding what to do, and eventually we got to the part of downtown where there's that big fountain, y’know? And there's all the fairy lights and it was dark and cold and we were wandering around before my dad was going to pick us up, and it was my turn to choose what to do, and we stopped for a second next to the fountain and I could kinda tell he wanted to kiss me and I wanted to kiss him, but y’know what I said? I said ‘let's go back across the street and wait for my dad’ to avoid kissing him. And then I didn't have another boyfriend until you,” Zoe elaborated, booping Evan’s nose for emphasis.

He gaped at her. “Oh my god, you were really so nervous that you said ‘let's go wait for my dad’ instead of kissing him?” he asked, incredulous.

Zoe laughed and shrugged. “Yeah. I really was terrified of relationships and romantic stuff for the longest time. Bryson and I barely even held hands,” she added.

“Wow. I know you'd never talked about much romantic history, but I thought you just didn't want to talk about it, not that you didn't have any,” Evan said, explaining his disbelief.

“Yeah. I didn't really have any experience, or even want to open up until I met you,” his girlfriend said, scooting over and planting a kiss on Evan’s forehead.

He beamed. “I love you so much. Don't ever forget it,” he said, pulling Zoe close to him so they were practically spooning.

“I love you too. And I hate to cut the game off at one question, but…” Zoe started lazily, yawning and then suddenly dozing off mid-sentence.

Evan chuckled lightly and tightened his embrace ever so slightly and kissed her head. “Sweet dreams, Zo” he said, finding himself drifting on not long after.

_  
damn, I like me better when I'm with you _

  
The pair woke up the next morning at 11am when Zoe accidentally spun over and hit Evan in the face.

“Hnghhh,” he groaned, subconsciously pulling her even closer and pinning her arms to her side.

Zoe woke with a start and panicked at first before assessing her situation and nestling into Evan’s embrace. She was willing to drift back to sleep before catching a glimpse of the alarm clock on their side table.

“Babe, babe, babe! Wake up! Babe, I'm so sorry, I, ugh, this is a fucking awful headache, our Statue of Liberty tour starts at noon and it's almost 11,” she said frantically, squeezing an arm free and attempting to shake her boyfriend awake.

Evan groaned again and yawned, finally awake. “What do you mean it's almost 11? And oh, everything in my body hurts,” he grumbled, letting go of Zoe and rubbing his temples.

“Yeah. Sorry, I totally forgot about it last night. We don't have to go if you don't want to-”

“No, I want to go! You were so excited about the tour last night,” Evan quickly amended, trying to sit up.

Zoe gave a small smile and stood up, almost falling over in the process. “Thanks, babe. We can go through the tour and get some food, and then come back here and crash again if we ever need to,” she offered, walking towards their dresser and doing her best to struggle out of her pajamas at the same time.

“That's perfectly fine by me,” her boyfriend agreed, moving slowly over to where he’d laid out clothes for the next day.

“I'm so, so sorry for getting us drunk last night. I should've known it wouldn't end well…” Zoe apologized, shrugging on clothes.

Evan beamed and turned around to look at his girlfriend. “I wouldn't trade this hangover for anything. You know why? Because…because I got hungover with you. And we're gonna be hungover together on this tour,” Evan said.

An uncontrollable grin spread across Zoe’s face. “That may just be the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my entire fucking life,” she replied, pausing the process of buttoning up her shirt as a single manly tear leaking out of her eye and making its way down her cheek.

Her boyfriend stood up shakily and made his way over to Zoe and wrapped her in a tight embrace. “I'm glad. I'm just so happy for us too…maybe it's just the hangover talking but…I do love you,” Evan said, beginning to sniffle.

Zoe gasped. “Oh my god, no, don't cry! If you start crying, I'm gonna cry…”

“You were already crying!” Evan exclaimed, a vigorous stream of tears gushing down his face.

His girlfriend gave up and began crying with him as well. “There's no one else I'd rather cry with in the early afternoon,” she joked between sniffles, “but we really should get going! The tour meeting place is 10 minutes away.”

Evan sighed, trying to calm himself down as he let go of Zoe. “You're right. And I think we're going to be coming back for a nap after the tour,” he said humorously.

Zoe giggled, some tears still glistening in her eyes. “Of course, babe. I love you. So much,” she said, wiping away tears and finishing tugging on her clothes.

He smiled back at her. “You know, I don't just love you, you make me love myself just a little bit more.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed!! I've actually been working on this one for a while, since I got back from New York, so I hope it's not a tonal mess!! as always, please leave a comment with any thoughts and opinions below ((also!! yes the Richard Rogers is basically back-to-back with the Music Box and there's a Marriott with an 8th floor lounge right next to them and I'm so glad I was able to work that knowledge into a fic, my day finally came)) <3


End file.
